Pages

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Orange Cake with Orange-Mascarpone Frosting and Peaches

Easter is
coming! The eggs need to be colored, the lamb needs to be roasted and the
desserts need to be planned, ASAP! As exciting as it is, Easter celebrations
are still somewhat new to me since I did not grow up celebrating it because I’m
Puerto Rican and we just don’t do anything special that day. We don’t have a
special dinner, we don’t have any food associated with it, there are no eggs
involved (colored or otherwise), and certainly there is no bunny to be found, unless
you look for it in a stew. To this day, I’m not sure how bunnies and eggs fit
into Easter, but I do know that here in the States, Easter is one happy
holiday, and people are really, really happy that day.

Since it’s
so fun and cute, and I don’t really need much of an excuse to eat good food, I
started celebrating it after moving to Cleveland. But I’ll admit that I barely
get involved in the planning and the cooking leading to the celebrations. It’s
not my holiday, and I don’t want to risk ruining it for those who love it and
want to make sure they have their more traditional choices. I can relate; I
know the feeling all too well. Thanksgiving is MY holiday and to be honest, I tend
to disapprove of basically every turkey I don’t make myself (and some of the
ones I’ve made as well). So instead of offending everyone with a “deconstructed”
Easter dish, I decided to make and share a small dessert that can be eaten
either before, during or after Easter. Let’s just say it’s a “spring-y”
dessert.

While I deal
with my new traditions and my ‘spring-y” dessert, back home they’re our
traditional celebrations should be unfolding by now. I know I said that in
Puerto Rico most people don’t celebrate Easter, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t
doing anything. On the contrary, they can get quite busy. Back home, we’re all about the “Holy Week”,
and its peak, Good Friday. During Good
Friday, people in my hometown gather around the main streets “downtown”, to
watch the processions that circulate them, portraying the agony of Jesus and
Mary, as He was on his way to be crucified. These processions feature a mix of
beautifully crafted statues and real-life reenactments of some of the key
moments of Jesus’ journey to the cross, the crucifixion and sometimes a bit of
the resurrection.

But that’s
not all. All through the week, but especially on “Holy Thursday”, the neighborhoods
have their “Via crucis”. Via crucis
translate to something like “The road to the cross” and once again, it’s meant
to make people reflect on Jesus’ agony, and hence, the sacrifice he was making.
For these, the community members go around the neighborhood chanting and
singing lamentations with a megaphone. There are 14 stops in which people read
biblical passages relating Jesus’ last hours and again, Mary’s suffering. It
may sound a bit morbid, but it’s actually pretty cool.

When people
are not wondering around town, they really have some time to kill. Most people
get Thursday and Friday off, but many still get the traditional ALL-WEEK OFF.
No work y’all! But it’s not like they can go all crazy partying because
traditionally there are so many limitations regarding what you are allowed to
do during Holy Week. There is no nailing, cutting, or any work-oriented
activities; there is no dancing, singing or heavy drinking; and depending on
the family, additional restrictions are added as well. Of course, there’s been
a departure from those restrictions in recent years, especially as the non-Catholics
increase in numbers, and part from many of these traditions. Overall, there’s
still a strong religious buildup to Easter, but Easter day itself is very
anticlimactic. You just go to church, and that’s the end of it.

Coming back
to my new-found interest in Easter, I decided to make a light, fragrant dessert
that would be simple enough to make just for myself, but that would be nice
enough to share with friends after the Easter dinner. I made an orange cake
that is light, fluffy and spongy, and refreshing. I glazed it with an
orange-mascarpone frosting that is light in flavor, without compromising texture
or taste, and its freshness can’t help but reminding you of a beautiful spring
morning. To balance the flavors and to garnish the cakes, I added slices of
peaches (from a can, I’ll admit) to get yet another sunny and fresh flavor. I
came up with the recipe using weights and ratios (to which I’ll have to dedicate
a post in the future) so I’ll provide some measures by weight, and then I’ll
give the conversions.

I really hope
you enjoy your Easter Sunday with family and friends!

On the road shortcut

Nutritional
info per serving (4 servings):

311
calories, 60 g carbs, 19 g fat, 2 g protein

Orange cakes

1 egg

2 ounces
(1/4 cup) granulated sugar

½ teaspoon orange
juice

¼ teaspoon vanilla
extract

1 teaspoon
baking powder

Pinch salt

2 ounces (1/4
cup) flour

2 ounces (4
tablespoons) butter

Preheat the
oven to 350F. Grease and flour the bottom of 4 ramekins.

Using a handheld
mixer, beat the egg and sugar together until they triple in size, about 2
minutes. Just before finishing beating the eggs, add the orange juice and the
vanilla extract. Continue mixing for a few more seconds.

Combine the
baking powder, salt and flour. Fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture.

Fold the
butter into the batter. Split the batter into 4 ramekins and bake at 350F until
a toothpick comes clean after inserting it in the center of the cake (about 20
minutes). Let them cool completely, and remove from the ramekins.

Orange-Mascarpone Frosting

2 ounces mascarpone
cheese

2 ounces (1/4
cup) powdered sugar

½ teaspoon
orange extract

6 slices of
canned peaches, sliced in half lengthwise

Beat the
mascarpone, powdered sugar and orange extract together until creamy, about 2
minutes.

Split the
frosting between the 4 cakes, and spread. Top with the sliced peaches.